Recognition and protection of copyright objects under the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of copyright protection under the existing agreements of the World Trade Organization. The analysis of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) which occupies the central place in the system of WTO normative legal acts is presented in the study. The paper reveals certain categories of intellectual property rights subject to protection under this Agreement, procedural aspects of the acquisition and preservation of copyrights, as well as minimum standards for the intellectual property rights protection adopted by WTO member states. It is concluded that copyright protection depends not only on substantive rules that provide for minimum standards of protection, but also on procedural and legal mechanisms that provide effective ways to ensure compliance with these rules. The article highlights the unique role of the TRIPS Agreement in the sphere of copyright and intellectual property rights protection in international trade.